“since quail is all dark meat”
Not the quail I have hunted. Bob Whites & Blue Quail both have white meat on the breast. Have never eaten quail with dark meat on breast.
I have hunted quail since I was about 10. Not in recent years, quail population is very low. They think it is a microscopic worm parasite that has been killing them. Attaches under the eye lids.
Past year has seen a bit of recovery in number, but I would not shoot a wild quail now, not until they are common again.
It just doesn’t seem/taste like white meat to me-it is way more flavorful-so much so that I bake quail breasts with baby onions, artichoke hearts, herbs and red wine-chicken white meat can’t hold flavor cooked with red wine, but quail does.
I’ve only bought the farmed, packaged quail for years, because the population was down here too-until the last couple of years. I’ve had a covey flush in front of me now and then when hiking near the river, for the first time in at least two years-no point in hunting the wild ones when the farmed ones are as available and reasonably priced as they are.